Era Of Mobile Devices

    
Tucson Weather Today

 

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According to Forrester Research, 50% of all mobile phones in use in the U.S. are smartphones with this number expected to reach 75% by 2016.

The total number of U.S. smartphone users is believed to have topped 100 million early in 2012. There are over 500,000 apps in the Apple App Store. Over one million apps are downloaded every 49 minutes.

Scientific studies have shown how using technology can elicit the same kind of euphoric response in the brain that you might see in a drug addict. That’s a lot of connected people doing a lot of stuff on their phones and getting a lot of satisfaction from it.

I do not own a smartphone. I do not own a dumb mobile phone. Here is a startling fact: I don't own any kind of mobile phone. And I don't plan to ever own one.

It's not that I have anything against a mobile device. Before I retired, back when I was still gainfully employed and 'on-call' 24/7, I was a perpetual slave, at any time day or night, to the summons of both a company beeper and a company owned cellular telephone.

But now I have no need for such intrusive appurtenances, and I have no wish to allow such annoyances to once again own me.

A technophobe I most definitely am not. I do own a hard-wired home phone. I paid $1.25 for the handset two years ago, and I pay about $15 each month to CenturyLink for providing telephone service (bundled with extra Internet access fees.) And I own a modern computer, which allows me all the Internet access I need... or want.

Besides, I rarely go anywhere.

I'm not an excessively mobile person.

Nor am I a 'social' person, but I am subscribed to Facebook. I don't know why. Most of my Facebook 'friends' consist of family members or close acquaintances, people whose activities I have an interest in hearing about. I read Facebook postings but seldom contribute.

I also belong to the perplexing Twitter group. But I am considering signing off from it.

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Did You Know . . .?

When opossums are playing 'possum, they are not "playing." They actually pass out from sheer terror.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On October 19, 1982, the automaker John Z. DeLorean is arrested and charged with conspiracy to obtain and distribute 55 pounds of cocaine. DeLorean was acquitted of the drug charges in August 1984, but his legal woes were only beginning. He soon went on trial for fraud and over the next two decades was forced to pay millions of dollars to creditors and lawyers. Nevertheless, DeLorean occupies an important place in automotive history: Thanks to its starring role in the 1985 film "Back to the Future," his gull-wing sports car is one of the most famous cars in the world.

DeLorean was already mired in legal problems by the time director Steven Spielberg chose a DMC–12 to serve as Marty McFly's time machine in "Back to the Future." Spielberg had originally planned to use an old refrigerator instead of a car, but had changed his mind at the last minute.

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WORD FOR TODAY
smartphone
noun
a cellular phone that is able to perform many of the functions of a computer, typically having a relatively large screen and an operating system capable of running general-purpose applications.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

John Arthur Lithgow
(born October 19, 1945)

John Lithgow is an American character actor, musician, and author. Lithgow has been involved with a wide range of media projects, including stage, television, film, and radio. He also has written and published several books of poetry and children's literature. He appeared in the films The World According to Garp (1982) and Terms of Endearment (1983).

Lithgow is well known for his roles as the Reverend Shaw Moore in Footloose, Dick Solomon on the NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun, the voice of Lord Farquaad in Shrek, and Arthur Mitchell on Showtime's Dexter.

Divine
(Oct 19, 1945 – Mar 7, 1988)

Divine (born Harris Glenn Milstead) was an American actor, singer and drag queen. Associated with independent filmmaker John Waters, he was a character actor, usually performing female roles in cinematic and theatrical appearances, and adopted a female drag persona for his music career; People magazine described him as the "Drag Queen of the Century".

Evander Holyfield
(born October 19, 1962)

Evander Holyfield is a retired American professional boxer. He is a former Undisputed World Champion in both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions, earning him the nickname "The Real Deal." After winning the bronze medal in the Light Heavyweight division at the 1984 Summer Olympics, he debuted as a professional at the age of 21.

LaWanda Page
(Oct 19, 1920 - Sept 14, 2002)

LaWanda Page born Alberta Peal, was an American actress and comedienne best known for her role as Aunt Esther in the 1970s TV sitcom Sanford and Son. She later reprised the role in Sanford Arms and Sanford.

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"Smartphones are tools which fools fiddle with when they are around people that they don’t have the courage, or, the intellect, to converse with."
--Mokokoma Mokhonoana

This Is Who I Am